No abstract

Analyses are reported on the correlation with height and with subcutaneous fat thickness of relative weight expressed as per cent of average weight at given height, and of the ratios weight/height, weight/height squared, and the ponderal index (cube root of weight divided by height) in 7424 ‘healthy’ men in 12 cohorts in five countries. Analyses are also reported on the relationship of those indicators of relative weight to body density in 180 young men and in 248 men aged 49–59. Judged by the criteria of correlation with height (lowest is best) and to measures of body fatness (highest is best), the ponderal index is the poorest of the relative weight indices studied. The ratio of weight to height squared, here termed the body mass index, is slightly better in these respects than the simple ratio of weight to height. The body mass index seems preferable over other indices of relative weight on these grounds as well as on the simplicity of the calculation and, in contrast to percentage of average weight, the applicability to all populations at all times.

No abstract

Characteristics of 11,132 men aged 40-59 years and free from coronary heart disease (CHD) at entry were related to follow-up experience, using multivariate analysis. In 5 years among 2,404 U. S. railroad men and 8,728 European men there were 615 cases of CHD, 214 of whom died from CHD or suffered definite nonfatal infarction. With five entry characteristics (age, systolic blood pressure, serum cholesterol, smoking habit, and body mass index), multiple logistic solutions for Europeans and Americans, separately, gave estimates of the individual probability of CHD. Classified by deciled scores for these probabilities, the expected and observed CHD cases were highly correlated (r = 0.930-0.981). Predictions based on European data applied to Americans, and vice versa, gave similar high correlations but American incidence was excessive compared with European experience. Application of the analysis coefficients obtained from data in Europe and in the U. S. railroad to 6,221 other U. S. men 40-59 years of age, CHD-free at entry, gave good prediction of relative risk (r = 0.94) for observed versus predicted cases in deciles of risk score; however, the actual numbers of cases were underpredicted. From single measurements of a few characteristics the multiple logistic solution usefully estimates the relative risk of CHD for individuals. Age, systolic pressure, and serum cholesterol are universally powerful predictors of risk. Variables not measured in this study or not yet identified contribute to the risk of CHD among American men.